DMG: Konnichiwa! I'm in a good mood today! I don't have writer's block as bad as before! YAY!!! Isn't that good? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I kidnapped my own muse…
Muse: You still don't own YYH!
DMG: *twitches* Anyway… If anyone is interested, please read my other fic, Aspen Rea. In my opinion, it's even better than this one, so please check it out. Thank you to:
asian princess 610: I'm really happy that you liked the last chapter! You are undoubtedly my most faithful reviewer!
Michilu: Thanks for the review! I always love those!
Midnightdeam51: Thank you for being honest! ^_^ Don't worry, stupid Mokkan guy is really getting on my nerves too. . But he's dead in this one! ^_^
blank0: Thanks! *bows* Although I think I'm less than talented at action scenes…
DAN0: Glad you're back! EEEP! Yes, I'll update!
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(forgive me if I gloss this over…)
"Rose whip!" yelled Kurama, drawing his trademark weapon.
Yusuke raised his finger (no not that one), ready to fire any of his rei attacks at a moment's notice.
An eerily high laughter filled the room. "What, can you not see me?" A gigantic red fox seemingly materialized out of nothing.
"Kurama, do you know anything about this?" Yusuke whispered.
"If I did, I would tell you," he replied. "I think our friend Mokkan has had a long time to himself to develop new tricks. He is slippery even for a fox."
"Though nothing on the Youko, am I right?" Yusuke joked.
"Too true."
"Are you finished with your little chat? I grow bored," Mokkan's fox-form said. Or, rather, his voice filled the room and boomed inside of their heads. He flicked his three tails impatiently.
Kurama smiled slightly. Three tails. The Youko had nine.
"We're ready when you are, vixen," Yusuke taunted in his familiar cocky tone.
"I think we should go try to find them again now," Kai worried. "I can't sense any energy at all, but I know they're fighting…"
Hiei was having problems of his own. No matter what he told the inquisitive cat demon, his youki was dangerously low from using the Black Dragon Wave. He needed to rest for a few hours, but that was out of the question before they found Kurama and Yusuke.
Kai frowned. They must be fighting in a room that blocked youki signals so they couldn't be found. Kai didn't even know that was possible. She thought she knew a lot about the world before she joined the Reiki Tantei. A lot of good that way of thinking had got her. They hit a fork in the road. Again. Oh joy.
Kuwabara was a good hour's walk behind everyone else. There were several reasons for this, including the fact that he simply walked slower. He could sense Kai and Hiei's energy signatures very faintly up ahead, and if they were faint to his acute spirit awareness, then they must be VERY far ahead. But he could tell Hiei had used his infamous Black Dragon Wave, which had drained his youki considerably. Yusuke and Kurama had simply vanished, as far as he could tell.
He looked around nervously. Hey, it was pretty scary to be all by yourself in the middle of the castle of the enemy. Who knows what was lurking in the shadows, ready to leap out at him? Not that he couldn't fight anything that DID attack him…
"Which fork?" Kai asked Hiei.
"I don't care," he replied. "It doesn't
make any difference."
Kai sighed heavily. "You're
right, of course. I suppose we should just stay here for the time being. Even
on the off-chance that we get there in time to be of any use, you certainly
won't be much help, and I don't think I will be either."
Hiei leaned against the wall and closed his eyes in agreement. Or, at least, as much agreement that could be gotten out of him.
Kai sank to the floor beside him and sat indian-style to await the arrival of their teammates.
Mokkan was dead. Considering, Kurama and Yusuke hadn't taken much damage, only a few scratches and bruises. Kurama calmly returned his whip to its rose state and tucked it behind his ear. (Or, wherever he keeps it) Yusuke dusted off his hands and walked over to inspect the body.
"Yup, it's dead," he announced, nudging the three-tailed kitsune with his foot.
"Thank you for that brilliant observation, Yusuke," Kurama said wearily. The actual fight hadn't taken long, but they had been traveling for several days.
"Let's go find the others," Yusuke suggested.
"Hey shrimps!"
Hiei and Kai chose to ignore the annoying voice that intruded on their awareness.
"Hello?" Kuwabara tiptoed up to them. "Are you dead?"
He was about to poke Hiei when one of the Jaganshi's eyes snapped open. "Don't even think about it, moron."
Kuwabara backed up several steps. 'I thought he was asleep' he thought nervously.
[Baka. How could anyone sleep with you around?]
[Get out of my mind, shrimp!]
[Gladly. There is nothing in here, anyway.]
[Hey!]
There was no answer.
"So, uh, are we gonna look for Yusuke and Kurama?"
"If you can sense their energy, I would love to know how," Kai answered dryly.
"Wait, lemme check…"
"We're waiting…"
"I got it! They are… that way! And coming closer!"
"Huh?" Kai asked intelligently. "How did you know that?"
"Well, shrimp, I can sense their energy!" Kuwabara declared proudly.
"Hey, you're right! The barrier must be down," Kai guessed. "That means, either they found some way to break it down, or they won and Mokkan's dead…"
"He's dead," said Hiei. His Jagan eye glowed.
"Oh."
"How would you know, shorty?"
"Why is it that all of your insults involve height?" Kai asked.
Kuwabara glared at her.
"Have you forgotten already? I have this." Hiei pointed to his Jagan.
"Oh."
"I think it would be a waste of precious time and energy to go look for them. After all, they have to come back this way sometime to get out," Kai suggested reasonably.
"Hn."
"Sounds good."
Kurama and Yusuke found the rest of the group quickly. They all agreed to get out of the stinking castle as fast as possible and then decide where to go next, because, as Kurama pointed out, no one's mother would be very happy to see them come home covered in blood and demon slime. At this, Yusuke pointed out that Kurama was the only one with a caring mother to worry about. Still, they agreed to get cleaned up.
"Wait, I've forgotten something," Kai said. She ran off to the chamber where she fought.
Five minutes later she returned with the demon's impressive weapon slung over her shoulders.
"What are you going to do with that?" Yusuke asked.
She shrugged. "It's for my collection. I don't have anything like this."
Hiei was the only one who somewhat understood what she meant by that.
It was dark when they finally reached the outside.
"Ah, fresh air!" Kai said as she flopped onto the dew-covered grass of the courtyard.
"Ew, you're getting all wet," said Kuwabara.
"Brilliant observation, baka," said Hiei.
Kai laughed softly. "Stop bickering for once. It's beautiful out. Look!"
There were thousands upon thousands of tiny stars in the dark evening sky. The rain of the day before had all cleared up, leaving the air sparkling and fresh. The warm breeze rustled the treetops and demon crickets chirped without a care in the world. It was one of the rare Makai nights when no dying screams rang through the stillness, no clash of weapons was heard, and blood did not stain the ground. For that moment, the world was at peace.
Even Yusuke and Kuwabara did not break the spell, although neither of them could appreciate the night like the demons could, for their own personal reasons.
"All right, let's go," Kai breathed, afraid of disturbing the sounds of silence. (hehe n/m) "My den actually isn't too far from here, we could make it by morning if we go fast, if you guys want to take a break and heal a bit before we go back to Ningenkai."
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DMG: I'm going to stop there for now. I wasn't planning to, but my sister is going to take the laptop and I want to update today. Sorry no fluff in this one. V.V Too bad, I know. I'll try in the next one. I know this chapter was kind of pointless and gomen for that. Review and maybe I'll write faster! ^_^
